"I was lucky back there with the Hammer forming. I don't have a gun on me so I don't know what I would have done if it didn't work. Of course, I could have strangled them, but the people in the dinner would have definitely noticed. I've really been lax with training this thing."

Le tries to form the Hair Hammer. 1-8 fail 9-10 succeed

Random number (1,10) : 9

Random number (1,10) : 7

Random number (1,10) : 9

If her first attempt fails she tries again 1-8 fail 9-10 succeed

Random number (1,10) : 6

Random number (1,10) : 3

Random number (1,10) : 10

Regardless of the outcome, she continues talking to herself.

"What the hell do I even think I'm doing? I'm sure with Dr. Takeshi's help, I could figure everything out, or with anyone's help for that matter. But really, what could I possibly offer in return? Sure this hair trick is interesting, but it's nowhere near useful. And anyone can extract venom to make poisons with. I'm sure the Doctor has his own sorce of income. FUCK!" She slams her fist (or the Hair Hammer if it formed) down (if it's the Hair Hammer, it hits the passanger seat and does slight damage). Her cell phone starts ringing. "Who could that be?" she asks, picking up the phone. "Daniel? Psht, I'm driving. I'll talk to him later." Tossing the cell into the passanger seat, she turns up the volume on the radio, getting lost in the music and continues driving.

Just as he was about to drop back into a REM cycle everything began to move fast around him again.

“Well alright, this is my lucky day.”

Flying through the void, Dr. Weird began seeing a blur of scenery go by. When it slowed down he was coming up on a car traveling down the road. Eventually he found him sitting in the back seat the of the car, with a young Asian women driving.

“OH GOD I AM IN THE CAR OF AN ASIAN DRIVER, wait a minute,” Dr. Weird paused, “this is not my real body.” Looking at the girl again, “What’s with all the Asians?”

When he stopped to take a real good look around him he saw that the girl’s hair was moving and that she had turned it into a hammer. “Interesting talent you have there, one could say… it's HAIR RAISING.” (I apologize for nothing.)

"What the hell do I even think I'm doing? I'm sure with Dr. Takeshi's help, I could figure everything out,” She started talking to no one inparticular.

“Wait,” Dr. Weird was shocked, “You mean that Dr. Wasabi has a fan.”

“What could I possibly offer in return? Sure this hair trick is interesting, but it's nowhere near useful. And anyone can extract venom to make poisons with. I'm sure the Doctor has his own sorce of income.” She continued

“Yes that is true,” Dr. Weird agreed with her. “But it takes real skill to weaponize, then comes the way administer it which is an art all itself.”

Just as her cell phone started ring everything started to go all wiggly. Dr. Weird had enough time to note he was and their direction.

“Our time was short my dear my you have gained my attention, I will be seeing you in person real soon… As soon as I wake up, crap how big of a dose of chloroform did I give myself.”

And with that Dr. Weird was standing in the void grinning maniacally, “As soon as I wake up, it will be time to make a new friend.”________________________________________________________________________________

Skylar grits his teeth as the bots slowly come closer to him. The second soldier back on his feet now, the other three let him stand and he appears to be uninjured. He needs to get the soldiers out of the way, their guns are the biggest threat to him. He breathes In deeply and takes in cool night air. He lets rip another wave of roars to help take out the rest of the bots armor. Then he once again faces the soldiers, this time, aiming for their guns.

Epoch had a lot to take in, and his giant dinner had been soured suddenly. Quantum knew that the news would affect Darren personally. "I'm sorry for the bad news, but I am glad that we got this time together, as it seems you may be going professional soon."

Epoch huffed as he swallowed hard,

"I'll be living in those rancid holding cells in the subbasement for a while," Teaghan interjected, "however, the professor here promises me I will be living right next door to you, very soon, so I'll be here for you if you need me."

Her empathy was appreciated, however, it didn't change the feeling he kept having. The feeling that those goggles and that twisted smile had somehow been in his past before.

The group sat silently, finishing what they could, Teaghan fiddled with her empty bottle slightly.

Darren was cut short by Sol, dropping a hello. Quantum lost his focus and directed his attention to Sol, greeting the young man warmly, "If you're looking for food, we have plenty here that I doubt we'll finish.

Skylars roar rips from his throat, seemingly more powerful that the last. Two waves rip out and hit the bots hard. The first wave rips most of their armor off and the second completely takes it off and causes minute cracks to their frames. Skylar feels his throat thicken slightly after the waves ripple. He can feel vibrations deep within his throat. His blasts towards the guns prevail, he misses the first but his other three hit their target. The guns crack and fly out of the soldier’s hands. Just with his throat, Skylar feels the vibrations in his hands intensify. “I think I am getting the hang of this.” Skylar looks back to the bots and smiles, he now knows his roar will be able to handle most of them now.

Dark opened his eyes to find himself in a brightly lit hospital room. He could hear several people talking outside the room. He could also hear someone breathing in the corner of the room. He looked over to see what he assumed was a nurse looking through some papers. He was painfuly aware that he hadn't been in surgery yet.

The door opened and a doctor said "We are ready now. Wheel him out." He also heard hundreds of camera shots and was aware some of the crowd must have been the media. The doctor and the nurse grabbed his bed and began rolling it out of the room.

One of the reporters said "We see here that they are wheeling the creature to surgery. It is unsure exactly who or what he is but the doctors are confident they will know soon."

As he was rolled by that one he used all his remaining strength to grab his shirt and say "I'm a bloody mutant. Deal with it."

The entire crowd was abuzz after he said that and the nurse forcefully laid his arm back down at his side. The reporter said "Well... you heard it live and straight from his mouth. He's a mutant."

Dark smiled when he heard "live" that means anyone watching the broadcast would here and hopefully that would get the attention of someone.

Side of the Road8:20 P.M. Skylar’s roar rips out of his throat, definitely more powerful than the previous ones. Three waves hit the bots hard, making their cracks spread to the point where they break into pieces and fall to the ground, now just scraps of junk metal. One of the soldiers that had his gun hit and knocked out of his hands, soldier 2, runs to one of the three vehicles they arrived in, wrenches the door open and leans inside of it. He grabs the radio and screams into it “We need backup! He destroyed all the droids by himself!”

Skylar rolls to use Seismic Clap on the door the soldier is in (1-4 Fail, 5-10 Success)

Random number (1,10) : 5

Random number (1,10) : 8

After the waves shoot out, Skylar rushes the other three, he gets in close and kicks each of the soldiers in the chest and attempts to channel his earthquake into his feet.

“It’s time to wake up now Doctor, you might want to see this.” Steve was referring to the news feeds and the military communications he intercepted; involving the injured Dark Coyote’s announcement from the hospital, and Skylar Rage’s rampage on the interstate.

Two steel orbs where lowered from the ceiling and where placed on either side of his head. “It’s a good thing that I am not programmed for regret. I would rather not do this but the smelling salts didn’t work.”

Just then 150 volts went flying through Dr. Weird, he awoke instantly.

He was smoldering and his coat was in fire. “What the hell Steve!” He was still semi-groggy.

“Hold on sir.” Steve then dumped 10 gallons of water on him putting out the fire and cleaning Dr. Weird up a bit.

“WELL I AM AWAKE NOW STEVE.” He paused a moment to spit some of the water. “So what is it?”

“Sir, I think this might make up for it.” Steve began replaying the new feed of Dark Coyote and the played the audio transmission of the military pursuing Skylar.

When it was done Dr. Weird was most pleased. “You’re right Steve this does make up it.” With a grin on his face he began plotting out what he had to do. “OH CRAP THAT’S RIGHT, I BETTER DO THAT FIRST.” Dr. Weird just remembered what he saw while he was sleep. Jumping up out of his chair he threw his coat to the floor and shouted. “STEVE, GET MY POD READY AND BRING ME A NEW COAT. I HAVE SOMEWHERE I NEED TO BE.”

As soldier two yells for backup into the receiver, one of skylars shockwaves hits the door, causing it to slam on his body, hitting his head hard against it. The door flies back open from the force then the second wave hits it again and repeats, knocking the soldier out cold. As skylar rushes the remaining three, he gathers vibrations into his legs. He jumps five feet from the other three and thrusts his legs into the chests of soldier one and four. The vibrations transfer into soldier one, causing an earthquake through his body, but not the other soldier. Both fly back and Skylar drops down, catches himself, then throws another foot up at the final soldier, lifting him off of the ground, and sent backwards.

Soldier one lies on the ground in pain. The force of an earthquake just surged through his body, even though his body is more permeable and flexible than land, many of his bones are cracked. Soldier two is lying on the ground unconscious and three and four and recovering from the kicks and attempting to get up. Skylar quickly gets to his feet then jumps over to three and attempts to earthquake the ground near him.

10 minutes later Dr. Weird was in the hanger with his pod ready for takeoff. A service droid come up to him handing over a new lab coat.

“Is everything ready then Steve?” Dr. Weird asked as he put on the new lab coat.

“Steve sir Dr. Weird everything is ready. Your coat is supplied with all of your usual favorites and the O.O.P.S is ready for you along with two SR388’s to accompany you.”

“Excellent, LET’S ROLL!” Dr. Weird jumped in the pod and prepared for takeoff.

“Dr. Weird if I may ask where are you going?”

“Well Steve, I am going to meet a gifted young lady who apparently is a fan of Jackie Chan’s grandpa and myself.”

“Well, have fun then sir.”

“I always do Steve, I always do. Grab on boys and prepare for departure.” The two SR388’s hook on to his pod and once they were secured on Dr. Weird activated his Q.I.E’s and rocketed out of the hanger back into the direction of Rapid City.”

“Oh my,” said Steve after Dr. Weird had left. “I forgot to ask him what to do when the others got back. Oh well I guess I will come up with something.”________________________________________________________________________________

Dark looked up at all the nurses or doctors who where looming over him like an ever-present storm cloud. They had him strapped down so he couldn’t move, even if he wanted too. He was in far too much pain to do so anyway. He lost count of how many test or things they had done. They had taken untold amounts of blood samples and sent him through a whole mess of different machines. He even graced them with more interactive test to test hearing, smelling, and eyesight. He still wasn’t even operated on. Seems the doctors where more intent on studying him rather than fixing him.

He heard some footsteps outside the room going down the hall. After a second he heard a door open and closed. Someone was talking so he closed his eyes to understand it better.

A faint voice “Ma’am the test results are in.”

A second voice, this one of an older female “Ah excellent, what do they show?”

The first voice “It’s weird ma’am, his pulse is unnaturally high. No way a standard human could have that high of pulse without…”

The woman interrupted him “That isn’t a standard human.”

“Right, well his bones are different from a humans as well. They are the same size and shape, but hollow, like with most birds.” The man continued.

The woman asked “How many of them are broken?”

The man answered “Surprisingly none. His bones are also denser, as is the case with reptile bones. His bones weigh less than a humans, but are stronger than humans.”

“Interesting. Continue” The woman responded.

“Yes well his ears are far more acute than a human. To compare his ears to a dogs would be generous. His nose is also more comparable to that of a bloodhound. His eyes seem to be roughly the same as a humans, but we think in times of distress he may be able to increase this.”

The woman asked “How is that possible?”

“We found that his eyes can dilate to become more like eagle eyes. Early test from far away he could spot everything, but after a bit of time passed his distant eyesight faded to that of a humans. So under normal circumstances are like standard humans eyes. It’s almost as if half the cells are turned off half the time, but can be turned on in dire need. Though it is unlikely he can do it on command.” The man answered.

The woman said “We will look into this more extensively soon. What else?”

The man continued “Yes well he seems to be selectively able to slow or even stop the flow of blood to certain parts of his body, like with alligators or crocodiles. It is the only reason he is alive right now.”

The woman countered “I thought they said he was on death’s doorstep when he got here!”

The mans responded “He was, but from what we can tell those injuries are older than what would normally kill a human. It is likely after he was hit, his blood flow lessened to his arms and legs, but not completely diminished. That’s the only way that he didn’t bleed out.”

“Amazing.” The woman said

The man interrupted “There is more ma’am. His vital organs are proportionally smaller to that a humans, as is with most turtles. That’s how his vital organs went untouched. We also found what appear to be undeveloped venom glands behind his ears. They aren’t producing venom now, but they are there. One more thing, we believe he has a very high metabolism. That would account for the fast heart rate. Because of this he needs to eat, a lot. However this comes at a cost. We estimate his age at about 20, but with a metabolism so hyperactive he will likely not live past 50."

Dark stopped paying attention at that. He didn’t want to think about death, he still had many questions that needed answers, he couldn’t afford to think about how much time he had left.

Finally a nurse stepped over him and said “We are going to put you in surgery now. We have to put you asleep.”

Dark responded “So long as I wake up afterwards do what you need.” With that the nurse put a mask over his face and he almost instantly passed out.

Le was jamming out to some heavy metal when several deer suddenly sprinted across the road. She slammed on the brakes, but still ended up hitting one at the tail end of the mob. The carcus went flying in some unknown direction as the airbags deployed blocking Le's vision. When the car came to a halt, Le sat there unmoving for a moment before unbuckeling and getting out. The car had ended up in the ditch. Fuck, there is no way even with my hair arms that I'll be able to get this piece of shit out of here on my own. And no other cars in sight. She searched her pockets for her cell only to remember that she had tossed it in the passanger seat earlier. She searched the car but didn't see it. She kicked one of the tires in furry, but its lack of response only upset her more. She slumped back down in the drivers seat and tried to decide what to do. "I wonder how far the city is from here," she mused out loud. "And if it'd be worth it to try and walk it or wait and get a ride from some country nitwit with too big of a heart. I know, I'll let my hair decide. If it forms the hammer, I'm strong enough to go it alone. If not, I'm a pathetic whimp who should probably just give all this crap up anyway." With that, she attempted to form a hammer.

Le attempts to for a Hair Hammer 1-8, fail 9-10, succeed

Random number (1,10) : 10

Random number (1,10) : 1

Random number (1,10) : 8

If it fails, she tells herself that that was just a warm-up and tries again

“AH HA HA HA HA HAAAA!” Dr. Weird laughed as he concluded his fifth barrel roll. The two SR388’s that were accompanying him, optic sensors were still spinning; if they had the ability to vomit they would have done so many times by now.

“AH, there she is down there.” He pointed towards a car on the side of road. A lone girl was standing beside it, her hair seamed to moving freely moving on its own. “BRACE YOURSELVES WE”RE GOING DOWN!” The droids each then looked at each other and if emotions could be expressed by machines, joy might have been shared between the two for the end of this journey.

SCREEEEEEEECH

Dr. Weird brought down his pod a few yards away from Tang Le. The droids detached themselves taking up places on both sides of Dr. Weird ready for any command he might make. The girl just stood there taken back by his sudden appearance and the strange craft he was in, but then showed no signs of fear after seeing the Doctors face. It was more of a look joy and relief, unfortunately Dr. Weird would not know this. Since the only faces he has seen until recently were those of pain and agony.

“Greetings girl,” Dr. Weird announced as he learned forward in his pod. “I guess you might already know this but in which case you don’t I will introduce myself.” He sat back up straight in his seat and proclaimed, “I am Dr. Weird.”

Then looking straight at her, he craned his head focusing his attention on her hair. “That’s quite the talent you’ve got there.”____________________________________________________________________________

Epoch sat, on the edge of his bed, disgruntled. His stomach ached. He wished he hadn't eaten. The meal had gone so very south when he told Professor Quantum what he knew about Dr. Weird. Epoch knew, he knew deep down, where those menacing goggles had been before in his life. That weird face made a whole lot of sense. Those hideous goggles, that twisted smile, all of that man, that hideous man.... was in Epoch's past.

He knew it for certain, Dr. Weird had been a doctor at the holding tanks that Epoch had been held in. Dr. Weird, if Epoch could remember was known as Hiram Boggs. He had told Quantum that, and Quantum assured he would look into that name. But that's not what bothered Epoch.

Weird was a menace. As a child, Epoch could remember Weird's cruel treatment, his obsession with the superpowered. Boggs, as Weird was known then, would frighten the children with those toothy grins, and those imposing goggles. He would sulk toward the patients when he had a chance and glare into their souls like a hungry beast. He wanted power. He was mad.

How, how could the government hire a monster like that? They let him into those poor people's lives, Epoch's life. Not only were the containment facilities a nightmare in themselves, but a beastly creature like Weird was allowed to haunt the patients. Epoch could remember Boggs digging into his arms with needles, prying into his skin.... tests that were forbidden. Weird must have been fired.

Epoch's stomach churned as Quantum mentioned the term, "nemesis". He didn't want a nemesis. He didn't want to see that awful man again. So quickly, Epoch stood from that meal, that his shaking and jittering nearly knocked him off his feet. Quantum and Teaghan tried to console him, but he wandered off, not even muttering a farewell to his partner, Sol. He hobbled away, muttering only, "I need to rest, I need to think." And here he was, in his dimly lit room.

Throwing his head back, he plopped down on top of his bed sheets, staring frightened at the ceiling. "Dr. Weird, I will stop you."

Skylar sits, exhausted in a tunnel. Three miles down the road the soldiers and bits of bots lie shattered around. Tired from fighting today, he hopes this tunnel goes unnoticed by more soldiers and bots. Due to all of the attacks he has had, he has grown very accustomed to his powers and what they can do, especially his vocal roar and his vibrating hands. He still is getting used to using his feet with his attacks, but hopefully, he will be able to transfer his earthquake attack into a persons body rather than just the earth.

Ike wakes up with an aching head and disheveled appearance. Exiting the RV he looks around for anyone.

"Hmph, not a soul to be seen," said Ike with a bit of relief. "Steven!"

"YES," Steven replied with his voice blaring. "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU NEED?" "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU," Ike cried in agony,"Turn it down NOW!""RIGHT AWAY SIR!...............Is this better?" Ike taking his hands off his ears and stopped squirming finally replied, "Yes, that's good. I'm guessing the Doc must have programmed a hangover hurt sequence for you?" Ike inhaled and release to calm the war in his head. "Hey Steve, call the Doc I wan to know whats going on."

"All right then, I shall attempt to contact him." Ike looke questioning what Steve meant,"Attempt?" "Yes he doesn't like to be bothered much......" "I see."

Takeshi was awoken by an abrupt THUD as the military van he and Yilana had been crammed into hit a large pot hole on the back road they were being taken down. Takeshi’s eyes opened to a shroud of darkness laid out before his eyes, he had been blindfolded by his captors, no doubt to hinder his hypnotic abilities. Takeshi's struggled momentarily only to realize how precisely his arms and legs had been bound. Takeshi focused; listening in to get a better feel for his surroundings, there was the obnoxious roar of the military van’s engine, there was the constant clanging of rocks colliding with metal, insinuating that they were on a gravel road, most importantly though, Takeshi was able to listen in on the conversation going on between the driver and passenger.

“Dammit, we better be getting paid extra for driving these freaks, no doubt they could kill us with the snap of a finger.” Whined the passenger, expressing his concern towards carting around supers.

“Oh stop bickering, they’ll be off our hands in no ti..” Spoke the driver, abruptly being cut off by a radio call.

“Do you men have the packages secured?” Questioned a sternly toned male over the radio broadcast.

“Err, yes lieutenant we are en route to Ellsworth air force base as we speak, we will be arriving in approximately forty-five minutes.” Replied the driver, now a more serious tone in his voice.

“Good, I will be expecting your arrival, Lieutenant Kerns out.” The lieutenant spoke, followed by a loud click.

Takeshi laid his head back, resting it against the cold metal wall of the van, reflecting on the events that carried out on a couple hours previous.

South Dakota, Diner outside the Badlands6:40:45 P.M. MT

Takeshi glanced up towards Yilana awaiting her reply when suddenly multiple incandescent lights blared through the windows of the small diner.

“Dammit! It seems we have been compromised, get ready to fight!” Takeshi shouted towards Yilana.

There were multiple loud bangs and before Takeshi and Yilana could even get up from their seats a dozen large green canisters barraged into the diner shattering the windows. Before the two villains could react a fog of yellowish green smoke enveloped the entirety of the diner. Takeshi rapidly felt his consciousness slipping from him as he inhaled the noxious gases. In his last moments of consciousness Takeshi got a glimpse of the waiter, passed out on the floor, phone in hand.

Epoch was standing in the middle of his room, window wide open. The lights remain off, as he stands in his leisure clothing. His eyes are closed and he is breathing steadily, inward through his mouth and outward through his nose. Perhaps he could rest himself, if he tried to focus, the way he and Quantum had trained, perhaps he could clear the Doctor Weird from his mind.

The world inside Darren's mind was blank. Slowly, he filled it with water, slow trickling water, and a great expanse of grass. A bright sun lit the are and Epoch could feel himself floating above the water. A river, a wide rive, running. His breathed slowed more and evened. He felt his heart beat slow as well.

Letting his feet lead him, he gradually descended into the cool water, breaking the surface, passing the dimension of his mind in to freedom. Once his head was in the water, he tried to submerge his soul, to cleanse all those thoughts. In the bedroom, his limbs quivered slightly as he let the experience wash over him. What thoughts were clouding him, could he let them go down that river?

Darren's teeth gritted, bearing the anger inside him. Let it go, he thought, let it out. A flash and Dr. Weird's menacing smile ravaged his mind, wincing, Epoch tried to send it down the river. It scrambled his mind and he just couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear anything.

Nothing! Epoch collapsed into the floor, outraged with himself. He would never master anything if he couldn't focus. The anger could not be his master, it would just make him like that awful man. No, he wasn't a man, Dr. Weird was for certain a monster.

Scooping himself off the floor, Darren tried to calm himself. Nothing can be more important that finding my center right now, he thought, I just need to rest, sleep, and try again tomorrow. What a long day.

Epoch stripped from his clothing and placed them into the bin for the morning maid. Alerting the room for a 7 am alarm, he crawled into bed. He glanced out his open window into that serene sky that looked down on the chaotic world and closed his eyes. Tomorrow.

Yilana muffled out a groan as she could feel herself roll into consciousness. "Y-Yeah.." she replied as she furrowed her eyebrows from a dizzy spell. The atmosphere around her felt like it was rotating in fast circles. She slowly opened her eyes and clenched her jaw, tightening her eyes shut again. "Too fast.." she thought to herself as she laid back down.

Slowly taking deep breaths, she began to mutter a question to Dr. Takeshi, who was sitting next to her with a concerned look on his face. "What happened? and where are we? I can barely remember anything." Yilana took care as she sat up again, clinging her back to the wall and resting her head in her hands, trying to get rid of the massive dizzying headache.

Le eyes the new comer uncertainly as he lands. She quickly recognizes him though and his introduction confirms her guess. With his mention of her hiar, she recalls the hammer that successfully formed on her first try. Tough enough to go it alone, but no longer required as reinforcements have finally arrived. She smiled inwardly as she swung the hammer forward to give him a better look. "Thanks, just a little something that I've been developing recently. You were the one seen with Dr. Takeshi, correct? I've been meaning to make his acquaintance. I highly doubt you would know the other doctor I'm looking for, being as even his work took on a dissappearing act in recent years. My name is Le." Instead of entending a hand to him she tries to change the hammer into a hair arm.

1-5 Fails 6-10 Succeeds

Random number (1,10) : 3

If the arm successfully forms, then it will offer itself to Dr. Weird for him to shake. If not then she will keep her distance and pull the hammer back to her.

As the girl introduces herself as Le and mentioned Takeshi and another scientist she was looking for he watched the hammer she had formed with her hair wave about. “Oh I might know of him, in my previous line of work I knew a lot of other scientists.”

Dr. Weird lifted his left hand and gestured to his two SR3-88’s, right away the two took off in different directions down the road. “They’ll be back, I’m just making sure that we won’t be disturbed while we talk. I will try to make this quick, I have an idea of what you can do. So I want to make you an offer, an offer to come with me. I can help you with you powers and make you stronger than you already are. And as a bonus I can introduce you to the doctors that you seek. I will give a moment to think this over I know this might be a bit, much but I have made this offer before and the individual turned on me. So please think carefully.”________________________________________________________________________________